Newbie help struggling a bit

Hi all hope your good

Im getting a bit lost on lights I have one of these unbranded Cree torches you see that was meant to be 30thousand lumens but really 30thousand fire fly's. I go on bushcraft trips and this one's huge and heavy and turbo is for about 30 seconds which is absolutely pointless.

My aim is to try find a non turbo good bright light.Budget isn't an issue but this thing you have to take 16 extra batteries to get through the trip etc.

Where I get lost is every light I seem to find is attractive lumen but all turbo. Is there a certain type I should be searching?. I'm wandering if my lack of knowledge is steering me to these types of light so I'm now a sponge for your advice if you get a moment free to reply.

I also want a head torch too just throwing that in there as I got same type and it gets stupid hot and again turbos and dies and I'm worried It will melt my face lol
Thanks 😊

The light I use most for outdoor trips is a Streamlight compact II – this is a small military style multifuel (AA/CR123A and even AAA in a pinch) headlamp/angle head light with a bunch of low modes and a red LED....not high lumens but more than enough once you are out in the woods and your eyes have adapted to the dark.

For a handheld thrower (if weight is not too critical), I like the 192 lumen dual mode Maglite ML25, it's a 2 C cell light but I run mine on a protected 21700 cell in a 3D printed adapter and I have adapters to run it on all sorts of cells including AAA's, AA's, CR123's and 18650's.

Trouble is due to lumen wars many manufacturers are luring in customers with super duper lumen numbers even though physics will only allow that output to hold out briefly.

Thinking you won't have a way to recharge batteries I'd reccomend the SureFire EDCL-2T for a super light that packs small. It uses a lens system that causes the beam to throw forward like a much brighter light. So at 1200 lumens it throws like something way brighter. If you push gently on the tailcap you get 5 lumens that looks like 25 so it'll do most of your lighting needs in true darkness but if you hear a growling in the distance, "kapow!" mash the tailcap like stomping a gas pedal to light up a couple of football fields edge to edge. You'd have to carry a bunch of extra batteries but they are small and light weight.

I like the headlamp xxo stated. I use the double clutch by Streamlight for my work but the compact II is nice.

And something like the Fenix E01v2 is great for a tiny light.

For headlamps with steady reliable output I use [h=1]Fenix HM23 Compact LED Headlamp[/h]oop when I copy paste the name but I'm bad with remembering things in the right order.

typically for a steady brightness light, surefire, elzetta, Malkoff and hds are companies with a consistent brightness or it's labelled whether it's a turbo mode.

For a reasonably sized handheld light, 500 to 700 lumens for an 18650 or 21700 battery powered flashlight is sustainable. It's all about heat management, larger head, more cooling fins, could squeeze a little more output

*How many days are your bushcraft trips?
*What types of tasks do you use the light for?
*What distances do you usually use the light for?
*Do you actually use 1k,2k, 3k, 1 gazillion lumen all the time or do you usually run on the lower modes?
*Are you looking for a more spotty light (usually for distance viewing) or floody (like a worklight for within 10 feet)?
*Do you have size/weight constraints?

IMO, a lightweight, rechargeable, floody headlamp, a 21700 flashlight with decent throw, and a 10,000+ mAh power bank will cover a LOT of bases... including recharging your phone. I might also look at the mid settings' run times to get a better idea of capabilities, and to adjust your expectations and usage to such. For example, I usually use my 880 lumen Eagletac at the 50 lumen setting for most tasks... not because of run times, but it works well for my purposes at that lumen.

Thanks everyone

For Scotty
Durations 3 to 5 days
Task wise is cooking and usually relatively close however enough when my young one is with me to see around a little so my aim was head torch up close and then torch for a bit of flood but I don't need a million lumen just one that is steady power and safe heat wise for her to hold as she's only 8.


I will take a look at those carpentryhero and bykfixer too batteries I'm ok I have good rechargable aa and AAA and d then a good 20 18650 (16 of those good Samsung other 4 are little unbranded that came with head torches) I try not use those ones if I can as no spec or anything on them.

Basscrazy said:

Hi all hope your good

Im getting a bit lost on lights I have one of these unbranded Cree torches you see that was meant to be 30thousand lumens but really 30thousand fire fly's. I go on bushcraft trips and this one's huge and heavy and turbo is for about 30 seconds which is absolutely pointless.

My aim is to try find a non turbo good bright light.Budget isn't an issue but this thing you have to take 16 extra batteries to get through the trip etc.

Where I get lost is every light I seem to find is attractive lumen but all turbo. Is there a certain type I should be searching?. I'm wandering if my lack of knowledge is steering me to these types of light so I'm now a sponge for your advice if you get a moment free to reply.

I also want a head torch too just throwing that in there as I got same type and it gets stupid hot and again turbos and dies and I'm worried It will melt my face lol
Thanks 

Click to expand...

Do you use li-ion?

Maybe something like the Astrolux EA01 with the SST-40 emitter would suit as a general purpose light.
https://www.banggood.com/Astrolux-E...l?cur_warehouse=CN&ID=6279756229&rmmds=search

The SST-40 LED will give you more distance, but will still work well up close too. And 5000k tint will be really nice outside and keep the greens and browns looking right in the grass/trees etc.

This light is USB rechargeable, so you can stick a battery in it and charge it up like you do with a smartphone. It is super compact too. Use a good quality 26650 or 21700 battery and you should have no issues. I run a Samsung 40T in mine.

This light does have turbo, but it performs great on its normal High mode, which will give good runtimes and stable output.

It also has an electronic lockout to prevent accidental activation or you can half turn the tailcap for a mechanical lockout.

Oh see that's a really nice size and the high but not turbo is exactly what I'm aiming at that has enough for her not going flying over roots and still see ahead how would I find out heat and run time on that mode the highest but not the turbo as he says ages with flashlights am I best trying to get the pdf manual and look that way?

And thanks for the video that ones not Bells and whistles I do respect the imalent ms18 however I don't own a mountain to light it lol

Oh for MiniHuman safe hands, I recommend no more than 300 lumens, they might get warm to the touch but not hurt anyone.
foursevens quark 2aa, Fenix Pd22 or e20 v2, eagletac p20a2, Streamlight protac 2aa or Streamlight 71500 JR C4 LED (sorry about the copy paste)

typically these lights don't step down in brightness until the batteries start getting low, nimh battery friendly and if it's not everyday use you'll want to stay away from alkaline as they tend to leak

Basscrazy said:

Thanks everyone

For Scotty
Durations 3 to 5 days
Task wise is cooking and usually relatively close however enough when my young one is with me to see around a little so my aim was head torch up close and then torch for a bit of flood but I don't need a million lumen just one that is steady power and safe heat wise for her to hold as she's only 8.


I will take a look at those carpentryhero and bykfixer too batteries I'm ok I have good rechargable aa and AAA and d then a good 20 18650 (16 of those good Samsung other 4 are little unbranded that came with head torches) I try not use those ones if I can as no spec or anything on them.

Click to expand...

Lots of 18650 headlamps and flashlights to chose from. IMO, assuming accurate manufacturer specs, I would look at the runtimes for the 300-400 lumen mode for floody lights, and 150 or so lumens for spotty lights for general use under 50 yards. I'll often use 1/3 to 1/2 of those lumen outputs for walking down a dark path at night, or non-detailed work up close... but that's when there's no other lights hindering my low light vision. All of them will probably get hot on their highest settings, and I might suggest a separate, plastic, 25 lumen, D-cell, Dorcy, Eveready, Rayovac, etc. from a local hardware store for the young one. They should last for days and are pretty safe... just make sure your child can actuate the button or slider (they can be stiff for very young and even very old).

I would suggest looking at brands that have a reputation for accurate stats. I might start looking at Streamlight, Nitecore, and Fenix to start off (I have no experience with Olight) if you start looking at specs. If it helps at all, when trying to figure out how floody a light is from just the specs, I'll divide candela/lumen. Usually 1-5 is VERY floody, and 15+ is usually very spotty.

So many choices.. for around the camp use like you said, a convoy S2+ would work just fine. you could get two for $30USD and a couple spare batteries and be at $50 for two lights with extra bats.

Basscrazy said:

Oh see that's a really nice size and the high but not turbo is exactly what I'm aiming at that has enough for her not going flying over roots and still see ahead how would I find out heat and run time on that mode the highest but not the turbo as he says ages with flashlights am I best trying to get the pdf manual and look that way?

And thanks for the video that ones not Bells and whistles I do respect the imalent ms18 however I don't own a mountain to light it lol

Click to expand...

I've had good results with the zebralight brand. They have aa/18650/123 headlamps.



http://zebralight.com/H600-Mk-IV-18650-XHP35-Cool-White-Headlamp_p_214.html

And Scotty asked some good questions. For general tasks, anything from maybe 50-200 lumens is more than fine. Anything much beyond a couple of hundred lumens will start to generate some heat after a while.

Basscrazy said:

Hi all hope your good

Im getting a bit lost on lights I have one of these unbranded Cree torches you see that was meant to be 30thousand lumens but really 30thousand fire fly's. I go on bushcraft trips and this one's huge and heavy and turbo is for about 30 seconds which is absolutely pointless.

My aim is to try find a non turbo good bright light.Budget isn't an issue but this thing you have to take 16 extra batteries to get through the trip etc.

Where I get lost is every light I seem to find is attractive lumen but all turbo. Is there a certain type I should be searching?. I'm wandering if my lack of knowledge is steering me to these types of light so I'm now a sponge for your advice if you get a moment free to reply.

I also want a head torch too just throwing that in there as I got same type and it gets stupid hot and again turbos and dies and I'm worried It will melt my face lol
Thanks 😊

Click to expand...

If you want convenience... maybe look for an "AA" powered light, run lithium cells, and toss them when depleted.